Following his opening-round 62 at the 2026 Wyndham Championship, Sahith Theegala had this to say:
“Yeah, pretty wild. I’ve never had a round like that.”
Little did Theegala know, very few PGA Tour pros have ever had a round like that. Or, at least, very few have started a round like Theegala did on Thursday.
The longtime pro, who has one Tour win so far in his career, opened Round 1 of the Wyndham with six consecutive birdies.
That incredible record-tying performance put him one shot off the early lead, with a clear path to his first victory since 2023.
Sahith Theegala ties PGA Tour record for consecutive birdies to start a round
Theegala teed off at 12:54 p.m. ET on Thursday in the afternoon wave. Following the long wait to start his round, Theegala wasted no time getting to work.
Beginning on Sedgefield Country Club’s front nine, he reeled off an incredible six straight birdies.
“I think historically I’ve always struggled to start rounds really well, so that was the first time I ever started a round with six in a row,” Theegala said Thursday evening.
Theegala’s impressive opening stretch tied the record for most birdies to begin a PGA Tour round. Unfortunately, his attempt to set a new record came up short when he made bogey at the 7th. No matter, Theegala rebounded to finish the front nine with two more birdies on 8 and 9, which means he made a birdie on 8 of 9 holes to start his day.
Even more impressive? The pro said afterward that it didn’t “feel like a fluke.”
“That was an incredible start. It didn’t feel like a fluke or anything either,” Theegala explained. “I made one really, really nice putt on 3 that was kind of a bonus, but other than that I just felt like I was plodding along, hitting fairways, which is so key out here.”
So far in 2026, 17 other players have made six or more consecutive birdies in a round. Both Jordan Spieth and Cameron Young have had stretches of six straight birdies. Michael Brennan made eight straight birdies at last week’s Rocket Classic, a feat Chris Gotterup pulled off earlier in the year. Both Brennan and Gotterup were one short of the all-time record for consecutive birdies (nine). But none of those birdie streaks came at the beginning of a round.
Bizarrely, Theegala’s torrid stretch stopped in its tracks when he moved to the back nine. After making eight birdies on the front, he reeled off eight pars in a row on holes 10-17, before finishing with a ninth birdie at 18.
“Got to the back nine and just stopped hitting fairways and really that cost me a lot of opportunities. I think after hole 11 I don’t think I hit a fairway after hole 11. I might have hit 13 actually. That was really my only birdie chance on the back I felt was 13,” Theegala said of the stark contrast between his two nines. “Yeah, it was an interesting round. I really didn’t feel I played poorly on the back, I just couldn’t quite hit it in the fairway and it’s tough to score out here from the rough. I think that’s why it’s such a great golf course, you can tear it up in the fairway but not from the rough.”
But Theegala wasn’t worried about any missed opportunities on the back after his round. Instead, he explained that he was “in the zone” on the front nine, which only happens a few times a season. He said he was proud to take advantage of his locked-in state to shoot a 62.
“As a golfer, you don’t really get in that zone too often. You try to prepare yourself to be in that zone as much as possible, but realistically I think guys out here will say you’re only in that zone two, three, four times a year,” Theegala explained. “To turn that round into a 62 was really nice.”
Theegala ended the day one shot behind leader Beau Hossler. If he’s still T2 come Sunday, he’ll move into the top 40 in the FedEx Cup standings.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: golf.com
